Chapter 23 :: WHO's responsible ?

"khamma ghani, sa!

.....dekho sab log, aare mhare dur ke rishtedaar aaye hai aaj, mhare se milne vaaste...ke hoyo vaya, aaj itne dino baad,.....?" Raghunath Rathy sarcastically yelled looking around and pointing at Rahat, from few feet away, with a smirk that was just as disgusting as that huge mustache on his slim face

[ greetings... Brother

.....Look everyone, our distant relatives have come today,...to meet, after so many days,.....? ]

"waqt barbaad nahi karungi tumhara, bhai sa, tumse bhi yehi ummed hai.....baas ek sawal puchna tha" Rahat only grinding his teeth, thinking and waiting to be done with him, his palm was itching to slap the shit out of him, but he took deep breath to control his anger

[ I'm not gonna waste your time and i hope you won't too,....just one question i had ]

"ha ji pucho...." Raghunath carelessly said

[ ask away ] 

"aap station per kyun the gaye the jis din meri shaadi thi ?" Rahat asked

[ why were you at the station, the day of my wedding ? ]

"ke kehna chabe hai tu chora.....khul ke bol" Raghunath's father, his uncle Suraj Rathy grumbled looking at him

[ what do you mean, speak clearly ]

"Thik hain fir...kya Rushda ke Jodhpur se gayab hone ke peeche aap ka hath hai ? Kya aap jante hai wo kaha hai iss waqt"

[ Fine...are you behind Rushda's disappearance from Jodhpur ? Do you by chance know where she is right now ? ] Rahat asked more sternly but slowly

"baaton ko ghumane ki adaat to mhari vi na se, to,...haan, mein thi waha jab Rushda bibi ji Train mein chadhi.....maine hi station master se kehke acchi si seat dilwai thi, bechari badi hi najuk halat mein thi, bada dukh hua dekh kar"

[ Man, even I am not in the habit of beating around the bush...…so yes, I was there when Rushda Bibi was getting on the train…I even asked the station master to give her a first class seat, the poor lady is in such a delicate condition, i felt sad ] Raghunath Rathy answered with false sympathy in his voice and meeting his glare

"aur aapko ye nahi laga ke shayad aapko usse ghar bhej chahiye tha, ye phir, humein ekbar inform karna chahiye tha ? aapko itne dino se pata thi ke hum usse pagalon ke tarah dhund rahe hai" Rahat growled,.....he shouldn't have come all the way here alone, in the first place, he should have brought more people....

[ And didn't it occur to you that perhaps you should have sent her back to Havelli or at least you should have informed us once, It has been so long since you knew that we are looking for her like crazy ]

"kyun choree.....aagya swad...? eb samjhe kaisa laage hai jab koi aapna chor ke jawe hai, mhari beti bhag gayi, mhari chotte bete,... pata nahi kaha chala gaya, arre laas tak ko na mili dono me se ek ki bhi, mhare ko" Suraj Rathy started shouting over the top of his lungs.....

[ why son,.....how does it feel like ?

now you know how!

now that you lost someone so close to you!

my daughter ran away from her own wedding, i lost my son, God knows where he is ?

or if they are alive or not ]

"aur in sabke jimmedar mein hoon ?" Rahat swallowed hard and asked

[ am i responsible for those ? ]

"nahi....thaari behen thi, thaari unchii soch wali behen, arre asse ladkiyon to paida hote hi mar dena chahiye" Raghunath Rathy yelled and glared.....

[ no, it was your sister, your modern thinker of a sister, girls like her should be killed at their birth ]

"thaare baap ki bhi galti hain...jo aise chori ne khula chor diye..."

[ It is your father's fault too...for letting such a girl loose...]

"ghar ja chore.....apne girebaan mein jhank ke dekh, apni saare galti dekhegi tujhe aur karaan bhi"

[ go home boy,....look inside yourself, you'll find all the mess and who is the reason behind all of them ]

**************

all the way driving, Rahat was in his mind....all the things his so called cousin said and what he found out was pointing at his own sister,

was it true ?

then the key ?

no one was suppose to take that without Baba's permission, except, only when she takes them, so only she could have given that to Rushda!

beside the Diary.....?

obviously she must have saw that way before and encouraged Rushda to run away,

Allah knows how persuasive his sister can be,.....

that poor woman influenced by her manipulation and decided to leave!

thinking she was doing that for greater good!

Allah knows what condition she was in right now!

he was busy with his messed up thoughts....while rubbed his face with both his hands and sighed.

************

that day of wedding....

Rushda as always looked pale...

Last night Rahat sent her, her wedding joda.....

it was of beautiful red fabric, simple.....but not something she would choose for herself

But since she can't go out...he took the responsibility of it.

while stroking the fabric, she looked lost in thoughts, she have to get ready any time now...

A knock came from other side of the door...

"kaun hai"

[ who's this ]

"Di.....main andar aaun ?" it was Ruthba's voice

[ may i come in, sis ]

"Aajao" her soft voice answered

[ come in ]

Ruthba looked at her in surprise..."aap tayar ni huee..... Sab almost aachuke hai"

[ why aren't you ready yet, everyone is almost here ]

Then she looked behind her where her wedding joda was laid...

her expression softened, letting out a sigh she said savouring the feeling of softness of the fabric around her fingers....."aajao, mein aapki madad karti hoon tayar hone mein"

[ let me help you get ready ]

"Tumhe...ye joda bohot pasand hai na...?" Rushda asked intently looking at her

[ you like the dress, Don't you ]

Ruthba snapped her neck to look at her..."hai to bohut khubsurat....pasand kaise na karoon"

[ it's do beautiful, how can someone not like it ! ]

Rushda slowly came toward her, picking the dress up, holding in infront of her as if imagining her in this dress...

"to aapne paas hi rakho...tum pe hi jyada jachega"

[ then keep it.....it suits you better ]

Ruthba jerked away from there with a gasp.....

"Y-ye a-ap ky-a keh rahe hain, di---

[ what are you talking about, Di ]

"madad karo meri yahan se bahir nikal ne me.....

[ help me get out of here ]

"Bilkul bhi ni.....aapko pata bhi hai kitni khus kismat hai aap, aise pyaar karne wale insaan din raat dua karne par bhi har kisiko ni milta"

[ absolutely not... Do you know how lucky you are? Not everyone gets such a loving person even after praying day and night ]

"but he's not for me....." Rushda sobbed

"I'd kill for what you are getting today" Ruthba absentmindedly whispered

"wahi to...tumhari tarah main yehi kadr kabhi ni kar paungi"

[ exactly...I'd never be able to appreciate him properly, like you ]

"you don't understand.....main ni kar sakti, wo mujhe kabhi maaf karega"

[ I can't do it, he'd never forgive me ]

"Kisiko janne ke zarurat ni hai.....tum baas mujhe baba ke study se ---

[ nobody needs to know.... All you have to do is to go to baba's study a--- ]

Then a faint noise coming in.....

"Ruth.....it's all going around my head--- i need your help"

"Ruthba.....di"

"Ruthba di please help me with equation" when Insiyaa suddenly poked her from behind....

Ruthba jumped....

"wooahh....are you okay ?"

"haan mein bilkul thik hoon, tum batao"

[ yep...I'm okay, you tell me ]

"It's okay...i can come back later"

"No, no, tell me what's the problem"

"thinking about Rushda ?"

Ruthba's heart sank....."ha-haan wo--

[ ya actually--- ]

"Don't worry.....police is doing their best"

Ruthba only gave her a shaky nod

Another 3 months have passed....

Rahat found out things he never thought was true,....

what Raghunath Rathy claimed was absolutely correct,.....Insiyaa was there that day and she was the one convinced the people to letting some transgender people in the Rathy house to ward off the evil,....

Raghunath's younger brother and sister (the supposed bride) vanished right after that, together. But Nobody knows what happened to them, until today!

one thing for sure, at he didn't believe the strong claim that it was Insiyaa's doing,.....until today!

but he could see the patterns right now, she kept herself so-

inconspicuous!

It was not always so easy...!

they were having breakfast,.....that morning.

"bhai sa aapse kuch baat karni thi" Insiyaa hesitantly asked breaking him out of his thoughts

[ bro, I've something to tell you ..... ] are you-- um free ? ]

"hmm...what is it ?" He asked, a bit annoyed

"ha.....wo ye chitthi, maid ko mila aap ka kamra saaf karte hue" She said and swallowed hard

[ umm....t-this letter, the maid found out while cleaning your room j-just found on your bedside t-table ]

Rahat frowned

"kis baat ki chitthi ?" Her baba asked from behind them

[ what letter ? ]

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